Fragile Bodies 

In the summer of 2020, four men from my village were bedridden at the same time, being cared after by their families. Two of them, who used to be good friends, developed superinfected wounds and died after a few months. One of them was my grandfather. 

Through sustained fieldwork and photography, this project seeks to document the lived realities of older individuals who remain behind, often in semi-abandoned villages or aging urban peripheries. Many live alone or with limited familial contact, navigating chronic illness, precarious finances, and the psychological toll of prolonged solitude, and others rely on informal caregiving, such as family members. 

This project approaches aging not as a clinical issue, but as a deeply human, relational, and culturally constructed experience. Photography becomes a form of care in itself, a way of coping with my own experience as a caregiver for my severely ill grandparents between 2020-2022, where I have witnessed the social issues of aging in rural Romania.  The lack of access to medical services, pharmacies, specialized caregiving, and socialisation contribute to a terrible experience for the elders and their families (if the family is present). 

Crucially, the project also addresses the general societal silence surrounding old age. In Romania, as in many Eastern European societies, aging remains taboo, rarely present in public discourse and often portrayed through stereotypes that strip elders of complexity and voice. “Fragile Bodies” is a visual testimony. It aims to intervene in this silence by creating an honest, dignified visual language around aging. The project is dialogic, developed after spending a lot of time together and creating trust.

Patricia Marina Toma - author